“..... Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?’’ Acts 9:4

In November, 2014 after an expose by KTN’s Jicho Pevu and the Inside Story by Mohammed Ali and Allan Namu respectively exposed the self-proclaimed Dr. Prophet Victor Kanyari’s under deals to swindle vulnerable Kenyans by false miracles. The following day after the expose, the Attorney General respondent by stopping all new church registrations.

The operation of fake pastor Kanyari was not a shame to the church but to the state security and intelligence. Why and how should a person fleece innocent Kenyans in the name of God yet we have the national intelligence service?

 This arm should have collected the intelligence on such suspicious activities of Kanyari before the KTN’s investigative journalists’ expose. Or perhaps it’s a common narrative of ‘the intelligence was communicated to the relevant authorities but not acted on”.

Whichever be the case, the government’s response was so harsh to the church. It was only one individual and hence it was improper to punish the entire church fraternity.

This’s equivalent to what PLO Lumumba calls responding to a mosquito bite using a mallet. Or red-carding an entire Arsenal team when Giroud hard tackles a Chelsea player. It was such a despicable and desperate move for a government with well funded security and intelligence entities.

An individual Kanyari should have been dealt with according to the Law but not to be the reason for tough regulations which in one way or the other is a show of failure by the state.

 Kanyari’s programmes were aired on several televisions and watched by the department of criminal investigations and the intelligence but unfortunately they didn’t suspect any wrongdoing.

The government should have also in the past or present responded with a similar fervour on corruption exposes like the NYS and the Ministry of Health sagas.

This selective application of the law on religious community is wrong. This’ the same community that prayed for the President and his deputy when the ICC dragon was on their back till it was overpowered.

This’ the same community they go to each Sunday for benedictions. No investigations were done for the Kanyari saga, why do we should investigations be done in other exposes?

The same selective applicability of the law is happening at the Non Governmental Organizations Board (NGOB) where the chief executive officer is harassing some NGOs either for their association with the opposition or for criticizing the government.

The government is reluctant to investigate the CEO, Fazul Mohammed for serious allegations that have been raised against him but it’s quick to act on his recommendations to muzzle the civil societies.

We cannot deny that there are rogue pastors scavenging on innocent Kenyans but how to handle them should be idiosyncratic. The blanket regulations have affected pastors who have a call to minister good news to the lost souls but they cannot open a church because of the tight regulations yet other societies are being registered and operating freestyle.

Furthermore, the church fraternity was shocked the speed, ease and secrecy with which the atheist’s society of Kenya (ASK) was registered yet churches cannot be registered. As a matter of fact, the church has done more to this country than the atheists will ever do in their existence.

Our Constitution’s pre amble starts with “acknowledging the supremacy of the Almighty God of all creations” which simply means that Kenya acknowledges the existence of God which ASK doesn’t and hence renders ASK unconstitutional. Had it not for churches stern stance that led to the recalling of the certificate by the AG, it could be fully registered.

It’s time the government reconsidered the embargo and lifts it to allow new churches to register but under its monitoring. After all, no church is registered without approval from the intelligence.

Then it should also follow that the intelligence should not stop at the approval stage but also monitor the operations of the churches. And hence by declining to register churches is as good as stopping the spread of the gospel which was the mission of Saul of Tarsis. Persecuting the church.